Arraignment set for Southland men charged with distributing synthetic heroin

Four Southern California men face arraignment April 4 on federal narcotics and money laundering charges for allegedly importing a powerful synthetic opiate from China and producing their own pills that were sold in bulk.

Capping a year-long investigation, special agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested the men on Tuesday, and allegedly discovered a lab in Baldwin Park equipped with pill presses and variously colored powders that will be tested to determine their chemical compositions, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A criminal complaint charges Gary Resnik, 31, of Long Beach, Joseph Stanley, 30, of Huntington Beach, Christopher Bowen, 30, of downtown Los Angeles, and Dylan Simpson, 25, of Fountain Valley, with participating in a ring that imported acetyl-fentanyl.

The chemical is almost identical to the powerful painkiller fentanyl. Acetyl-fentanyl — sometimes called “fake heroin,” even though it is significantly more potent that heroin — is not approved for any use in the United States.

“So-called designer drugs may seem to have a similar effect as traditional narcotics, but these back-alley laboratory concoctions are very dangerous,” said Eileen M. Decker, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles. “They have caused many deaths in the United States, and this abuse led the DEA to put it on a list of the most dangerous and easily abused drugs in our country.”

As part of the investigation discussed in the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, authorities in January seized narcotics — including acetyl-fentanyl pills, methamphetamine, Xanax, hydrocodone pills and ecstasy — from a man who had allegedly purchased the drugs from members of the drug trafficking organization.

“Fentanyl and its analogues pose a serious public health risk,” said DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge David Downing. “Even small doses absorbed through the skin or accidentally inhaled can be fatal.”

— Wire reports